Juan Diaz
Juan Diaz (ファン・ディアス) is an Argentinian midfielder, and is considered a genius player. At first Diaz is arrogant and conceited, but he is somewhat humbled after his match with Japan and duel with Tsubasa Ozora. Diaz is very talented and has been deemed to be the next generation superstar of Argentinian Football, even being compared to Diego Maradona, even as nicknamed as "Maradona II". Because of their talents and similarities he has developed a rivalry with Tsubasa of Japan. Synopsis Prior to the J Boys' Challenge Arc Diaz is the 8th born in a family of 8 children. At the age of 5, he learned soccer with his elder brothers. This is also the first time he met Alan Pascal, who soon became his best friend. The two practiced together and proved to be good at soccer, even managed to win against 11 opponents. When Diaz was 12, he was recruited by his hometown's club along with Pascal; and a year later, they won the under 14 club teams' championship, becoming Argentina's number one in their generation. Throughout Argentina no one of his age group could compete with him. At the age of 15, Diaz was selected in the Argentina Jr. Youth, and was named captain. He also already had a pro contract and would make his debut next season. J Boys' Challenge Arc European Friendlies Diaz's first appearance is among the audience of the match between Hamburg Jr. Youth and All Japan Jr. Youth. He is there to observe the ace of Hamburg and West Germany Jr. Youth, Karl Heinz Schneider. Pascal is also there, and they remark that Genzo Wakabayashi and Kojiro Hyuga has some good moves, and Asian's soccer level, Japan's in particular, has improved, however they are still no match for Argentina. They also wonder why Schneider isn't moving, and even begin to doubt that he is Europe's number one player. They are amazed when Schneider shows his true ability, however. Argentina's coach, Diego Barbas, meets the two after the match, and asks them about it. Diaz says they have to be careful of Schneider and West Germany. Barbas continues to ask if they see a great player wearing the number 10 uniform in All Japan, Tsubasa Ozora. The two answer that they didn't see anyone like that, the only great Japanese player they saw is on Hamburg's side, Wakabayashi. Barbas reveals that the one giving the information about Tsubasa is Roberto Hongo. Junior Youth Tournament Upon seeing Tsubasa's play in the match between Japan and Italy, Diaz and Pascal realize that he must be the one Barbas told them about. As Italy's pivot player, Gino Hernandez is injured during that match, Argentina easily defeat them 5-0 in the next match. When interviewed, Diaz says that since he couldn't play against Hernandez, he is looking forward to the confrontation with Tsubasa the day after. Roberto appears in Argentina's waiting room just before the match against Japan to tells them to be careful with Tsubasa. Before the match starts, Diaz tells Tsubasa he looks forward to playing against someone who learned South American style soccer from Roberto. This shocks the latter, as he asks about Roberto. As Tsubasa knows Roberto is watching from the stands, he becomes absent minded at the beginning of the match. Because of that, Diaz and Pascal easily gets the ball from him with a 2-phase attack. The two then use their combi play to gets past the Japanese players, and Diaz scores with his Cartwheel Back Handspring Backflip Shoot. Following Japan's kick off, Hyuga eventually gets the ball. Diaz goes after him, and even though Hyuga counters with power, Argentina still gain possession thanks to Galvan. The ball is quickly send to Diaz. As Tsubasa approaches, Diaz avoids him by passing to Pascal before dashing towards Japan's goal. He scores Argentina's second goal with a Zenten Shoot on Pascal's pass. Diaz soon achieves hattrick with a Drive Shoot after taking the ball from Taro Misaki and getting past Tsubasa. At this point Diaz says the level of Asia in soccer is still no way near South America's, but is surprised when he sees Tsubasa smiling and saying Japan can reverse the score. Japan's Golden Combi manages to beat Diaz and Pascal in the following play. As Tsubasa is about to do a Drive Shoot, Diaz tells Galvan and Galtoni to follow their tactic to stop the shot. Noticing this, Tsubasa changes from a Drive Shoot to a Drive Pass for Hyuga, who scores. Wanting to score immediately, Diaz dribbles right after the kick off, and gets past Hyuga, Shun Nitta, the Tachibana twins and even Tsubasa, but Misaki cuts the ball after that. From that point, Tsubasa is even in his duel with Diaz, and eventually manages to take the ball from the latter. That results in Japan's second goal just before the end of the first half. Diaz and Tsubasa has another duel at the beginning of the second half. Once again, they are even. Tsubasa got a chance to score after that, as he copies Diaz's Cartwheel Back Handspring Backflip Shoot, but Diaz prevents Tsubasa from scoring. To answer, Diaz does a second Drive Shoot, but Ken Wakashimazu repels it. Pascal takes the ball back and Diaz attempts to use his Zenten Shoot, however Wakashimazu wins again with his Tate Kaiten no Wheel Kick. This eventually leads to Tsubasa performing an overhead kick. Even though Diaz blocks the shot again, Tsubasa still manages to pass to Misaki, and the latter scores the tying goal. Frustrated, Diaz rushes on his own, only to be easily stopped by Japan's Golden Combi. His teammates defends however, and manages to send the ball back to Diaz, saying they are all counting on him. As Diaz realizes he has his teammates behind him, he gets past 8 Japanese players and takes the lead for Argentina again. Later, as Hikaru Matsuyama gets the ball, Diaz goes after him to take the ball and score a fifth goal. He can't win against Matsuyama's ball keep ability however, and Japan equalize once more thanks to Hyuga. Diaz and Tsubasa tightly mark each other for most of the remaining time. When there are 2 minutes left, Diaz blocks Tsubasa shot for a third time. The loose ball is followed by Jun Misugi however, who scores the reversing goal. Diaz and Argentina doesn't give up hope and keeps on attacking during the last 2 minutes. With the help of Galvan, Diaz seemingly scores with his Banana Shoot, however Ishizaki and Jito defends with a combi play. The match ends with a 5-4 victory for Japan. During the semifinal between Japan and France, Diaz is watching from the stands with Pascal and coach Barbas. He says that if Barbas manage to make Tsubasa go to Argentina, he will be Tsubasa's rival and will get his revenge for the defeat in this tournament. Battle of World Youth Arc Diaz is part of Argentina Youth, participating in the World Youth. Like many others, he is bent on avenging his earlier loss and winning against Tsubasa. His team finish second in the group stage, behind Netherlands. They lose to Germany in the quarterfinal by 2-3, however. It's later revealed that Diaz is not in perfect condition during the tournament due to injuries that he suffered at the Argentinian league. Rising Sun Arc After the World Youth, Diaz has to have a back surgery, and he is out of action for a year. But when he returns, he manages to lead his club Boca Juniors to a Copa Libertadores title. He will transfer to SSC Napoli next year. Diaz is currently the captain of the Argentinian olympic team, participating in the Madrid Olympics. His team manages to beat Nigeria 5 - 2, and their next opponent is Japan. As the match begins, Diaz challenges Tsubasa to a one-on-one. He manages to win the duel by lifting the ball over Tsubasa's head and, as Tsubasa jumps for the ball, sliding under him to get past. Shingo Aoi manages to intercept the ball, but Diaz immediately takes the ball back while the former is still in mid-air. He then dodges Matsuyama's two-times tackle, before getting past Misugi and Gakuto Igawa with a one-two with Pascal and pull off his trademark somersault overhead kick, dubbed the Miracle Overhead Kick, but Wakabayashi blocks the shot. Japan proceeds with a counterattack, but it is eventually stopped with Varon and Simeore's offside trap. After that, Diaz vows that he aims to score a hat-trick against Wakabayashi. Later, Diaz manages to take the ball from Matsuyama, then attempts to use a Heel Lift against Misugi, but the latter defends with an overhead. Pascal follows the ball, but is stopped by Gakuto. Japan launches another counterattack, which eventually leads to Tsubasa and Misaki performing a Twin Shoot, but Diaz comes back to block the shot. To be added as series progresses Abilities and Special techniques *'Speed': Diaz is one of the players who can run 100 meters in 11 seconds. *'Individual South American technique': Diaz has good individual techniques and can use those in both offense and defense. *'Drive Shoot': Diaz can use the Drive Shoot, which uses a forward spin to propel the ball downward at the net. *'Banana Shoot': A shot with a ball sent on a curved banana-shaped trajectory. *'Zenten (Forward Somersault) Shoot': Diaz rotates towards the ball with a forward somersault, and uses the strength of the rotation to shoot. *'Overhead Kick' **'2 Steps Overhead': If the first shot is blocked, Diaz kicks at the ball a second time with his other leg while still in mid-air. *'Miracle Overhead': Diaz does a cartwheel, then a back handspring and a backflip to shoot directly. This technique first appeared in the first series, but wasn't given a name until Rising Sun. **'2 Steps Miracle Overhead': The 2 steps shot technique can also be used when performing the Miracle Overhead. *'Argentina Golden Combi' (with Pascal): Diaz and Pascal can use fast continuous passes to get past their opponents. *'Heel Lift' *'Snowboard Dribble': Diaz can ride the sliding ball, like a snowboard. *'Combination tackle' (with Pascal) Games exclusive *'Sense of Genius' (Captain Tsubasa 2 and 3) *'Cyclone' (Captain Tsubasa 4) **'Neo Cyclone' (Captain Tsubasa 4) **'Aerial Back Cyclone' (Captain Tsubasa 4) **'Heel Lift Cyclone' (Captain Tsubasa 5) *'Double Drive Shot' (With Tsubasa, Captain Tsubasa: Dream Team) Trivia *Diaz's name is a reference to Ramón Ángel Díaz, however his character is based almost completely on Diego Armando Maradona. *In the Italian dub of Shin Captain Tsubasa, his name was changed to "Jorge Ramirez", but when the Road to 2002 anime was dubbed, his original name was retained. Gallery Notes External links * at Captain Tsubasa db (Japanese) * profile at ''Captain Tsubasa: Dream Team'' database de:Juan Diaz ja:ファン・ディアス es:Juan Díaz Category:Ace Strikers Category:Argentinians Category:Captains Category:Gamemakers Category:Midfielders Category:Players of Argentina Category:Players of Serie A Category:Players of Superliga Argentina Category:Characters introduced in J Boys' Challenge arc